NWL Hillsboro Hops

Giesting Dominates, Hops Win 4-1 at Tri-City

Published on May 15, 2024 under Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release


PASCO, WASH. - This time, the Hops held onto the lead.

Spencer Giesting tossed seven shutout innings, and the Hops --- a night after losing a late 3-0 lead --- held on to beat the Tri-City Dust Devils 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Gesa Stadium. Hillsboro (17-17) is just 2.5 games out of first place in the Northwest League, pending the outcome of the later games involving first-place Eugene and Spokane. Tri-City (15-19) is 4.5 out.

Giesting allowed just one baserunner in the first three innings, in part because of a clerical error by Tri-City. The lineup card on the Dust Devils' dugout wall didn't match the lineup card given to Hops manager Javier Colina in the official exchange prior to the game. Consequently, in the second inning, when Tri-City catcher Kevin Brueggeman singled on a hard-hit ball to the left side of the infield, Colina came out of the dugout to inform the umpires of the mistake. By rule, the scheduled batter, Cam Williams, was ruled out, and Brueggeman came back to the plate with two out and grounded out to third.

Giesting really only ran into problems in the fourth inning, when Tri-City put two on base with two out in a scoreless game, but Giesting induced Brueggeman to ground out to third again to end the inning. Beginning with that out, Giesting retired the final 10 batters he faced. His final line: seven shutout innings, just two hits allowed, with one walk and nine strikeouts.

Hillsboro broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth when Kevin Sim doubled down the right field line and Jean Walters tripled to right center, scoring Sim. Then, with two out, Juan Corniel dropped a single into left field to score Walters and make it 2-0.

The Hops added a run in the sixth. Andrew Pintar was at third base and Manny Pena at first with two out, when Pena broke for second. Brueggeman threw down to second, and Pena purposely got into a rundown to allow Pintar to score.

Then, in the eighth, Pintar blasted a home run to left, his league-leading sixth dinger of the year. It was 4-0 Hops.

That would be plenty for the Hops' bullpen, though it wouldn't be without drama. After Eli Saul worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, Alec Baker came on for the ninth. He allowed back-to-back singles with one out to bring the tying run to the plate. Matt Coutney grounded into a force out at second, and when Corniel's relay throw to first bounced away, Tri-City had their first run. Baker then walked Cam Williams to bring the tying run to the plate.

Kyle Amendt came out of the Hops' 'pen in search of his third save, and Brueggeman was front-and-center again. Tri-City, winners of four straight and six of their last seven, had also trailed in six of their last seven. Brueggeman, in fact, had hit a game-tying grand slam at Eugene in a come-from-behind win on Saturday. But this time, all he could do was hit a harmless ground ball to first base to end the game.

Giesting improved to 2-2, and in 13 innings against Tri-City this year, he's allowed seven hits and no runs, with two walks and 14 strikeouts.

Pena's 10-game hitting streak came to an end, as he went 0-for-3 with a walk. Pintar was 3-for-4 with a double, homer and two runs scored, and he's now 5-for-8 in the series.

Game three of the six-game set is Thursday night at 6:35. Airtime will be 6:20PM on Rip City Radio 620AM and www.RipCityRadio.com.

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Northwest League Stories from May 15, 2024


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